The Green Ribbon
by Floralwolf
Summary: When Alfred was fourteen he met a boy that transformed into a rabbit with a green ribbon tied around its neck, after telling him the five senses. Now, two years later, the Kirkland family move in and he meets Arthur, a mysterious boy with a green ribbon always tied around his right wrist. It's an interesting story, with language, character death and smexy moments later on.
1. Prologue

_A/N_: Here 's a new story I thought up after seeing this random picture. I forget where I saw it though. Anyway I wasn't going to post it intill I realized that I actually had more to write than just the prologue. I hope you like it :) Okay I'm only doing the Disclaimer once in this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my imagination.

Prologue

I was fourteen when I first encountered the boy. I was coming home from my birthday party and regretting I didn't ask for a ride home. He was standing on the curb during the worst down pour of the year. He wore a black cloak that fell to his ankles and a bright green ribbon was tied around its collar. He wasn't using the hood so his blonde hair was plastered to his face with the showering rain. I remember his eyes where a hazy, emotionless green and his small mouth was fixed in a petite frown. The boy's head only came up to my hip. _He's so tiny_, I remember thinking as I moved my umbrella over him to shield his little body from the pounding rain.

"You're going to catch a cold if you just stand in the rain, you know," I said to him. I wasn't really expecting an answer but I said it anyways. He looked so helpless and lost.

"First comes sight, second comes sound, third is a smell, fourth is taste, fifth is touch, and sixth is-" He paused before running off into the street. The crosswalk signal turned to a flashing red hand. The trunk honked and he continued across the street. It didn't even slow down.

"Hey wait!" I yelled but it was too late. The truck passed, and I was alone. Just like that, nothing but the sound of the rain hitting the cement, and the feeling of cold water running down my neck. And just like that, I was staring into the green eyes of a rabbit across the street. A green ribbon tied around its neck.

I was fourteen when I first encountered the boy. I was fourteen years and three hours when I first saw a life disappear. I was fourteen years, three hours, and two minutes when I began to believe in magic.

_A/N_: I know it's super short but that's because it's a prologue. I'm going to continue the story but my first priotiry right now is We Need Each Other. If you like this idea please review! It might motivate me to write more. Bye and thank you for reading! ^u^


	2. Chapter 1: Sight

_A/N_: Oh wow. I updated really fast because of the reviews I got (and I'm home sick). I love you guys! :) Anyway, I changed the genre to Romance/Supernatural because I feel that this isn't a fantasy anymore, but it could fit under either genre I think. Add on to the genre, I wouldn't put it in horror but there are some creepy moments, just warning you. Also this got a bit bloody, not full out gore but still my mind decided that this was going to be a story involving blood. If you don't like blood, I'm terribly sorry! And Arthur is really OOC, like he isn't a tsundere at all. His sister is. I might as well say everyone is a little OOC to make the story go smoother. If you don't mind any of my changes I listed above then read and enjoy!

Chapter 1: Sight

Two Year's Later:

I didn't realize it then, but the truck that almost hit that boy was my neighbor's moving van. They moved away that day only to loose control and fatally crash during the storm, leaving their house vacant and lonely. A rumor of it being haunted quickly spread around the whole town. It was perfect to be the creepy house even when someone lived in it, but now with the former owners dead? It was just a sitting goose for the gossip. The house was at least fifty years older than any other home on the block. If it was my job to file the homes in the neighborhood that one would have been an easy "historical". It had that colonial feel to it and the way the yard's grass and shrubs had grown around the windows and porch gave it a melancholy vibe. In short, the house was depressing and dampened the spirit of the town.

Well the house was, in till they moved in…

The Kirklands seemed to be pretty normal at first glance. There was Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland, their son, daughter, and pet rabbit. There story was pretty basic too: moved from London, England to Rockport, Massachusetts for business matters. Mr. Kirkland was into managing small businesses and Mrs. Kirkland was an artist with a dream of owning her own gallery. Their two kids, Arthur and Alice, just had to tag along.

The day they first arrived was on a Saturday, a normal, lazy Saturday afternoon. I was lounging on the couch playing _Call of Duty: Black Ops_, and pwning like a boss. Mattie was reading a book, _Whale Talk_, with his stuffed polar bear placed between him and the book. Mom was talking on the phone, and Dad was in the yard enjoying the sunlight. Like I said a normal, lazy Saturday afternoon.

Out of the blue, Dad knocked on the window scaring me shitless. I sat up and glared at him through the window. He grinned warmly through the glass. His blue eyes twinkled through the rim of his glasses and the glass of the window. His lighter brown hair blew in a slight breeze. He always had the smile on his face. That was actually one of the things he passed down to me, along with his optical stigmatism.

"Yeah?" I asked through the crystal clear shield separating us. Mattie looked up from his book to see what was going on. His violet eyes flickering from me to Dad, me to Dad, until he finally went back to his book, _Whale Talk_. I was going to read it, but I then figured out it had nothing to do with whales and I quickly lost any interest.

Dad mouthed, "look," and then thumbed over to street in front of the neighbor's house. The house that had been vacant for two years now, every since that night it had been empty. The yellow grass had grown to knee-length and the bushes and shrubs took over half of the yard and porch, but Dad wasn't pointing at the house. He was pointing at the street, no, the moving truck that was parked in the street behind a dusty blue 2011 Honda CRV. "Morty's Movers" was printed in big, red lettering on the gray metal side.

Now I was interested. I guessed that Mattie would probably want to see the new neighbors that were moving into the "haunted" house and said, "Yo, Matt."

He looked up from intensely reading. The look on his face clearly read, 'This better be good or I'm going to rip your balls off and give them to you as a Christmas gift".

I hoped that new neighbors were good enough reason. "People are moving into the place next door."

Now his face read, 'Your twisting my leg you son of a hamster!' "What you're kidding right?" he questioned as he got up from his chair and plopped on the couch next to me. He quickly found the out of place moving truck and gasped, "No way."

"Oh ho ho ho~ yes way," I chuckled in disbelief also. All three of us Dad, Mattie, and I stared intensely at the Honda awaiting for the owners of the house to appear. The way our gazes where glued on the car was probably in the rudest manner but oh well. The sight of someone moving into _that_ house was something you didn't see very often. "I bet their murderers like in that one movie," I said to Mattie.

I felt his gaze shift from the car over to me, "Are you an idiot? If anything there a family of like werewolves or something."

Now I'm looking at him with a, 'what the fuck' face. "Okay you will believe werewolves but not murderers? What the fuck, Mattie? You need to get you nose out of the books and into some shit reality."

"And I think you need to watch your language young man," Mom said behind us putting a large hand on each of our shoulders. I almost screamed.

"Jeez Mom don't sneak up like that, you almost gave me a heart attack! It's bad enough that a family of murderers moved in next to us," I said grasping the clothing over my heart. I needed to stop thinking about all those horror stuff. I was a hero after all and heroes were not afraid of anything.

"Werewolves," Matthew coughed. I stared at him and he returned my gaze. His violet eyes accepting the wordless stare down challenge.

"Or they are a normal family of four that can't wait to meet their new neighbors," Mom said her deep purple eyes blinked at the two of us. I knew what she meant by "meet". "Meet" meant "go help them unpack by taking care of all their heavy lifting". I know it was just one four letter word, but its definition was way more complex in mom language.

Now Mattie's shyness kicked in, "W-What? But what if they think that we are being too nosy or something? I don't want them to dislike us…" Mathew trailed off mumbling something to himself, a blush covered his pale cheeks.

I glance over to a mumbling Matt and then continue talking to Mom, "Wait you said normal family of _four_. How do you know that there are four people in the family?" I realized that my mother had a way of getting around and understanding the juiciest gossip but how would she know that there were four people.

"Because I'm working with the mother, Janet Kirkland, on designing her studio and we just happened to be talking now. They have a daughter you know…" Mom tried to motivate us.

Mattie and I both shrugged, "Eh." You could say we were both gay. I prefer to call it "being straight for a girl, but I'm a boy" or "gay". That didn't stop our mother from trying to hook us up with a random girl from time to time though.

She smiled, "Good because she's too young for you anyway. Hey if you're not going to help I will. We can show at least one person in this house hold is friendly." With that and a smile she walked out of the living room and out the front door.

We watched as she walked up to the passenger side of the car and greet someone inside. Dad followed. Finally our new neighbors appear. First is a woman, Mrs. Kirkland I presumed. She was young looking, early thirties, with golden hair that stopped at her shoulder blades. She had on a form fitting black t-shirt and a pair of paint splattered blue jeans it looked like. Then a man walked out of the driver's side and shook hands with Dad. His hair was a messy yellow and he wore an outfit oddly similar to the one Wallace wears in most of the _Wallace and Grommet_ episodes. I'm guessing in his late thirties. Next a little girl with blonde pig tails popped out of the back seat with a huge cat carrier in her tiny arms. She looked young, eight perhaps? It looked like Mom tried to help her but the little girl waved her off, rudely. _Stuck up little brat_, I instantly thought as the girl kneeled down to open the carrier.

She pulled out a white rabbit with brown tint on the tip of its ears. I swear my heart froze. I remembered it like yesterday, the rain, the light, the truck, the rabbit, and the boy. How could I forget the boy? Suddenly I wasn't in my living room anymore; instead I was standing on the curb in the pouring rain. It was dark out and the only thing illuminating light was a street lamp, and the signal and crossing light. The rain was coming down in sheets and I was alone on the street. No, I wasn't alone I was never alone. _He_ was always there. Those emotionless green eyes staring ahead, waiting for me. His blonde hair sticking to his pale face. "First comes sight," he whispers before the white person turns to a red hand. Then he dashed across the street, the truck running right through. The bunny with the green ribbon was there like it always was when I remember or dream, but this time its eyes bled red. I stared into the two empty, bloody holes. I screamed.

Matthew had me by the shoulders shaking me, "Alfred, Alfred?" His worried eyes stared at me. He kept shaking me after I actually gained my senses.

"Wha-wha-what are you doing man?" I said slapping his hands off of me. I straightened my _Captain America_ shirt and fixed my glasses.

"Are you okay?" He asked skeptical, eyeing me funny. "Did it have something to do with _the dream_ and our new neighbor's furry friend?"

I gave a nervous laugh, "Ha ha ha, no I'm fine brah don't worry about me. I was just spacing." I turned my attention back to our new neighbors. "So did the fourth one emerge from the car yet?" I didn't really listen to his response, all I could think was,_ it changed, the dream changed._

"Nah, it seems that they've been trying to though. The dad even pulled out a twenty but they still refused," Mattie said looking out the window. Everyone except Little Brat was crowded on the other side of the car trying to coax someone to come out. Finally everyone gave up and moved to the lawn of the house. They seemed to be discussing something, but having a good time doing it. There was a laugh here and there.

I knew Matt was watching the parents but for some reason I couldn't get my eyes off the car. Finally the door swung open and a teenager stepped out. He had messy hair like his father but it was darker and when he turned around he didn't look at the house. He looked oddly familiar. Now, the first thing he looked at, I swear to God, was me. He made unbreakable eye contact. Now I couldn't tell the color of anybody else's eyes, but his I could.

Green.

My eyes widened and I could feel my heart start to pound. _"First comes sight"_ the boy's voice said in my head. That's why he looked familiar. He was a spitting image of the boy from two years ago, fast forward ten years or so. "It's impossible," I whispered.

"Huh, what was that?" Matthew looked over at me. He must have seen the horror in my face because he followed my gaze to right to the teen. He didn't understand. He couldn't have understood anyways. He wasn't there that night or dreamt of the same face every evening after that night for two years.

The teen stood for a minute longer before giving a weak smile and lifting his right hand to wave. My face paled. Tied onto his wrist was a green ribbon. I swear the same green ribbon, shade and everything. It just freely waved with his hand as if it was nothing.

Did someone up there hate me or something? I'm sorry Uncle James for not kissing Judy, she's my damn cousin you perverted old man. I bet it was him, he hated me and I hated him. Now he was going to make my life a living Hell, lovely.

"Al?" Matt said but it was far, far away. Was I falling backwards, man I'm falling really slo-OW!

"Alfred?!"

O.o.O.o.O

I woke up with three familiar faces, three faces I couldn't place, and one face that I could recognize even if I didn't want too. My head was groggy and I could care less about what had happened all I wanted was to be left alone. "Alfred, my darling!" Mom cried out and hugged me to her chest.

"Mom I can't breathe," I groaned. My head hurt; there was a pounding deep in my skull. Personally, I didn't really care if my mom hugged me, it was when my face was smooshed between her two gigantic boobs and I couldn't breathe. That's when I cared, and at the moment I needed all the oxygen I could get. She released her death grip and I gasped for air. I rubbed my temples and squeezed my eyes shut. "What the hell happened?"

"You fainted you knuckle head," Matt said with his arms crossed. He was probably mad because I made him worry. Siblings tend to do that, if one makes the other worry expect the other to be embarrassed and angry. It's like a love hate relationship in a ways.

I looked around at the four strangers. They all stared at me closely. Especially the green eyes boy, he probably looked the most worried. I attempted a chuckle. It failed. "Hey I'm Alfred," I said. I tried to give each person the same amount of eye contact but my eyes kept wandering to, once again, the boy. Well actually he wasn't a _boy_ he probably was older with me, but I shall keep referring to him as "boy".

Mr. Kirkland cleared his throat and I looked at him, "The name's Christopher Kirkland. Mr. Kirkland to you, you gave us all quiet the scare lad. Glad you're alright." He talked in a very sophisticated voice and in a strong English accent.

Mrs. Kirkland smiled sweetly, "Since we are all introducing ourselves, I'm Janet. No need for the "Mrs. Kirkland" we are all friends here. If you ever need anything just come on over, that goes for all of ya." Mrs. Kirk- I mean Janet had a very quirky and bubbly voice. It fit oddly well with her accent. She seemed nice.

The Little Brat was next. She pouted at me; oh I already hated this little girl. Janet patted Little Brat's shoulder, encouraging her to speak. Finally she said, "Alice, and I already don't like you so stay away from me or I'll scream. That goes for you too," she pointed at Matthew.

"What?" He gasped, frightened at the sudden attention. His shy side was showing again and I could literally smell the worry coming off of him. Weird talent, I know right?

Last was the boy. I found myself leaning in closer to him. "Arthur," he said quietly. "Arthur Kirkland. I hope we can be friends, Alfred." He blushed, which led to me blushing. Damn, chain reactions!

Mr. Kirkland noticed quickly and said, "We should probably get going. We got a lot to unpack." He probably was a homophobe. I could care less the world was full of them after all. It just slightly bothered me that one could try not to show it and yet it shined through like sunlight on a cloudy day.

Janet read this too, but said, "Yes we should. Arthur would you like to stay here and keep Alfred company? He still looks a bit pale. Oh, if that's alright with you Ivy."

"Of course," Mom said, brushing her light hair from her eyes. "C'mon everyone lets go!" And Janet and Mom started to push everyone out of the room. The unspoken language of women…scary. Especially since it led to me being alone with Arthur, it was fine when everyone was here but once the door shut I would be alone with him.

_Click._

Fuck. I wondered if Arthur could sense the tense mood. He looked nervous, and I knew I was nervous. Actually why was I nervous? I had no reason to be. _Arthur can't have been the boy from two years ago. It wouldn't make sense. Then again, the boy did turn into a rabbit, but I flagged that off as magic. Wait, then what would stop the rabbit from turning into Arthur? Nothing, if magic was involved. Isn't magic like limited though? And what about the ribbon? Crap I'm just confusing myself._ I shook my head clear of my thoughts and looked up. Arthur stood there avoiding my eye contact and shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously. "Hey," I said catching his attention.

He jumped at the sudden sound of my voice and looked into my eyes. "Yes?" he asked fumbling with the bow that the ribbon was tied in, his green eyes never breaking contact. I help stuck, like I couldn't move, when he held me in his gaze. I couldn't tell if it was because I was still in shock of Arthur's presence or the fact that I couldn't tell what his eyes were telling me.

I broke the contact and looked to the floor. _Need to act cool and calm, Alfie. Cool and calm._ I lift my legs off the sofa so I sat upright. "You can sit down if you want to," I said.

Arthur nodded and took the seat next to me. The couch cushion dipped under the new weight. He didn't even look at me. All he did was twiddle with the green ribbon tied around his wrist. I took the opportunity to actually study the strange "boy" that sat besides me. He wore a black hoodie and dark skinny jeans. His blonde hair was unruly, but the style worked for him and his eyebrows were larger than those of an average person. His skin was pale, _like the boy's_. His mouth was fixed in a petite frown, _like the boy's_. And his eyes were a mix between neon and forest green, and he kept something locked behind those green irises, _like the boy's_.

_Like the boy's_…

"Is there something wrong, Alfred?" Arthur asked with a questioning eyebrow. God, now since I realized them, they would be the only thing I saw.

"Huh?" I asked feeling the blood rush to my face. _Crap he noticed!_ I turned to face the TV. The black screen reflected us. I could see him looking at me. "Ah, sorry. You just look like someone I met a couple years ago," I said. I shifted my eyes to see what he was doing now.

Two green orbs blinked at me. "You met someone who looked like me before? That's strange…" He said sitting back. I watched him as he turned his eyes in my direction once again. They darkened, I swear they did. The brightness was gone and the dullness took over. It seemed like the whole room reverted from sunlight to darkness, and in the blink of an eye it was back to normal. "What's wrong, Alfred?" he asked, his tone sung innocent curiosity.

I shook my head, "Oh haha its nothin'. Hey this is awkward let's change the subject okay?"

Arthur let the subject drop, "Okay."

"So is your family from like England or something?" I asked.

"What?"

"Not to be rude or anything but you do have an accent."

"Oh, I do haha. Yes my family moved here from London," he said with a laugh. I had to confess, it was cute. The way his cheeks dusted pink as he smiled. I found myself wanting to make him smile again.

"Why?" I asked with a grin. I couldn't help but smile too.

Arthur stayed silent a moment thinking before telling me, "Business matters really. My father helps with managing and Mother is an artist. She wants to start her own gallery here. I think she will do well." He twisted the grass green ribbon between his fingers. It shined in the light and reflected in his eyes. "There's also another reason," he said quietly. His smile faded.

"Yeah?" I asked. Something felt strange I couldn't place it.

Arthur met my gaze, blue mixed with green. He looked like he was hiding something, besides the tears that were forming in his eyes. "It's Alice…she's-"

As if on cue the Little Brat came bursting through the door like she owned the place. _A bitch_, I finished Arthur's sentence in my head. I was quiet pleased with it, Alice was in fact, a bitch in my eyes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa you can't just run into someone's house like that!" I scolded her.

She gave me the dirtiest look I have ever seen on an eight year old's face. "What ever Fatty, it wasn't like you two were about to make out!" she threw back, her tiny hands on the hips of her red plaid skirt.

"What 'Fatty'?!" I repeated in disbelief. I was no "Fatty", I worked out everyday, and I had a six pack to prove it! Plus, I hope it didn't look like we were going to make out because come on. We just met each other.

"Alice!" Arthur shouted. "How dare you disrespect our new neighbor like that? I'm pretty sure he is in perfect health and d-do you even knows what m-make out means?" Arthur blushed red. So he was also embarrassed at the notion of us sucking each other's faces off.

Alice huffed and crossed her arms, "You both are such wankers- Ah is that a piano?" Her eyes quickly shifted to the corner of the room where a piano was placed. Seriously how do you miss a grand piano in the corner of the room? Before either of us can answer Little Brat-Bitch is already on the keys, pounding away.

Arthur gave me an apologetic glance before running over to his sister, "Alice, knock it off," he said as he grabbed onto her hands. She totally ignored his request and pounded against a mixture of keys creating an awful sound.

There was a snap and the sound of something cutting through the air. "Ah!" Arthur hissed as he grasped for his right eye. He fell to his knees and doubled over in pain.

"Dude what happened?" I cried out as I fell besides him. I placed my hand on his back. Arthur didn't say anything he just looked up at me. Blood was pooled in his palm and dripping from the cut that sliced through his eyebrow and cheek. The first thing I thought of was the rabbit. Not the one that usually appeared, the new rabbit. The one with the bloody eye sockets. "Jesus! We need to get you in the kitchen. Alice help me!" I ordered as I placed his palm back over his eye and tried to lift him to his feet.

She just stood there watching us. I couldn't tell if she was frozen or what. "This is your fault," she said darkly and then ran from the room. I watched as she ran out the door. _Bitch!_

I managed to get Arthur in the kitchen and I placed a towel over his wounded eye. We kept it like that for a while, before I ran upstairs to get the first-aid kit. After I came from the bathroom with the first-aid kit in hand everyone had gathered in the kitchen and were bombarding Arthur with questions. When I entered Mom took the kit from my hands and went over to Arthur. "Okay now lets see," she said as she released the hold of Arthur's hand on the crumpled and bloody towel. It stopped bleeding which was good, but the cut was still nasty looking. It was a red slice from the top of his abnormal eye brows to the top of his cheekbone. Luckily it didn't hit his eye.

I didn't stay to watch Mom fix him up. Instead I went back to the living room. The piano stood in its usual place, but looking guiltier as ever. I walked up to the key board. Nothing was out of the ordinary, except… I noticed that one of the strings had broken and was curled up in a tight spiral. A section of the wire was red, _Arthur's blood_.

"It's a shame," a voice said behind me.

I turned around to see Alice standing right there. "Sweet baby Jesus!" I gasped almost shitting myself, for the like third time of the day. Damn this little girl was creepy!

"It's a shame really," she repeated herself. Alice walked past me and traced the keys of the piano with her tiny fingers. "He could have lost his sight. Then he wouldn't be very useful, would he? Then again he isn't useful with his eyes either, the dumb git." She looked up at me, her jade eyes shined mischievously.

I swallowed, thickly.

The little girl sat on the piano bench and crossed her legs. "Look Fatty I want to-"

All my fear for Alice were flushed down the toilet and she was titled Little Brat-Bitch once again in my mind. "Don't call me 'fat' you little brat," I hissed at her with a forced smile. Man if she wasn't a girl, and or younger than me…

Alice smirked before standing up and yanking my collar down so I was staring into her eyes, our faces only inches apart. "Look, Alfred, let's make sure we see eye to eye here. I don't like you and you don't like me. Fine, I can live with that, but my brother is a whole different ball game. He likes you, I can tell so if you do anything to hurt him I assure you those nightmares you have every night will only get worse."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I said. _What the fuck? How does she know about 'the dream'?_

"Oh yes you do. The one with the green ribbon?" she smiles coldly. I feel my heart begin to pound and my eyes widen. Her smile only becomes sicker, "Gotch ya."

"Alice~?" We both heard Janet call her daughter. Alice let go and I stepped back a good distance rubbing my collar.

"Yes mama?" she called back, an innocent voice coming out of her mouth. She looked over at me with a wicked smile.

I made a face, "Bitch." I didn't care if the girl was eight years old; obviously she knew some serious shit.

Her smile softened and she grined playfully, "Fatty!" I didn't have time to respond. Alice ran from the room before I even opened my mouth.

I sighed as I fell back onto the couch, closing my eyes. I let myself fall into the darkness, but the familiar feeling of someone sitting next to me forced my eyes open. Arthur sat besides me with three band-aids covering up his cuts. His eye was slightly red but not damaged from what I could see. "Hey," I said with a smile.

"Hey," he replied back.

"Welcome to America, neighbor," I chuckled. Arthur smiled and it seemed to brighten the room. I didn't realize it but I fell in love with that gentle smile right then and there.

_A/N_: Well, that was an interesting chapter. I even got the romance sparking. If any of you (pervs ;D) are just dying to know when the yaoi begins then let me remind you of the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, _taste,_ and _touch_. If you know what I'm getting at. Anyway this chapter was just interesting to write, I think Alice is my favorite little evil mastermind ever. It was fun writing her dialogue. And how did you like my take on the characters? Is anything confusing you? Hey, sorry change of subject, after proof reading this I realized that Alfred and Mattie's mom is like a Fem!Russia. I even named her Ivy, totally didn't mean to do that. So I was wondering, did anybody else catch that? And their dad is like Liet with the exception of having glasses. I honestly didn't do that intentionally. So anyway I would like to hear what you thought of this, hopefully I didn't let anyone down. Review Please! :) Bye bye!


	3. Chapter 2: Sound

Chapter 2: Sound

It was two days after Arthur and his family moved into the house, and I would have loved to say that everything went back to normal. But when you lived next to your mother's newest best friend, her stuffy husband, their *DID* daughter, and mysterious son who I swear I met two years prior, it's hard to say my life went back to normal. If anything it only got more messed up.

_I hopped up each step determined to get home before I got struck by lightning or something. The water rushed passed my feet in a summer storm waterfall down the steps. The sky was a black-purple and the rain dropped down from the angry clouds as if someone took a knife and slashed a hole into the fluffy darkness. _

_ I made it up to the top of the steps and walked over quickly to the crosswalk. The red hand flashed red and I stopped on the curb. I began to hum the American National Anthem as I tightened my grip on my umbrella. I turned my head to my right and jumped slightly when I saw the little boy standing besides me. He looked soaked to the bone, a damp green ribbon tied around his cloak's black collar._

_ I didn't think twice about lending my umbrella to him. I was the hero after all and he was so small. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. It was strange, like my voice was stuck in my throat. I opened my mouth but no sound came out. All of a sudden it was silent, the pitter-patter of the rain against the cement sidewalk and fabric of the umbrella…gone. I looked around me frantically, everything was moving around me but there was no sound._

_ Looking back down to the boy I searched him for answers. He continued to look ahead. His eyes looked dead. I watched speechless (no pun intended) as he pointed to his ear and mouthed something. "Listen."_

_ But I couldn't listen, I could only watch as his mouth began to form words that I couldn't read. He was saying something I couldn't understand. Giving me a message I couldn't receive. I could only make out one word, a name, "Arthur."_

_ Then he turned to me, and stared right into my eyes. I then knew that this boy was __**not**__ Arthur. He was someone, something, totally different and his eyes said it all. The dark orbs reflected evil but at the same time a childish innocents, but his face looked just like him. He pointed to his eyes, then slowly to his ear, then to his nose, he opened his mouth and pointed to his pink tongue and then he reached up and touched my hand. His hand was ice cold, and he let it settle there before abruptly pulling it back and running across the street. The truck zoomed past barely missing him and then there was the rabbit. Like always, except that its ears where gone. Torn clean off, blood dribbled down the side of rabbit's rain drenched head. Then the all the sound in the world hit me like a baseball bat to the face… _

I was jolted awake half by Mr. Reiher's bugling and half of the dream I just had. I could hear the trumpet crystal clear from across the street, and my room wasn't even faced in his house's direction. My window was located directly across from Arthur's. Funny how that happened. Groaning I pressed my pillow against my head trying to block out the sound the best I could, suddenly wishing that I deaf once again. My efforts failed.

I shot up in my bed and trekked over to my window. I threw it open and peered out in the direction of Reiher's gray house wishing for the old man to put a sock in it, literally. I didn't care if he continued playing just mute the fucking thing. I couldn't get that great of a view but I did see Mrs. Morton shuffling her way in his direction to shut the old fart up. Well, I actually only saw a frail pinkish blob straggling slowly in the general direction of Mr. Reiher's house. I forgot my glasses. I went back to my bedside to grab my glasses and went back to the window and stood there waiting for the blasting sound to subside.

Then Arthur's window opened. "Oh, hello Alfred," he said with a smile. When he realized what I was wearing he blushed. I took note that he was wearing his day clothes at six in the fucking morning, and at the moment I was just wearing my blue boxer shorts. He also seemed oddly awake. When I didn't answer he said, "Do you know what the awful ruckus is? Iggy is having an absolute fit." He tried to avoid my eyes and my body but they just kept wandering to my abs and chest.

"That God awful sound is Mr. Reiher. He's the crazy veteran that lives across the street. Mrs. Morton usually goes over to shut him up as fast as her eighty year old legs can take her, but she can only go so fast. Hey dude, who's 'Iggy'?" I said, mentally praising myself for giving such an intelligent answer. Well, semi-intelligent answer.

Arthur sat on the window sill and folded his hands in his lap. Instantly, I noticed the green ribbon tied around his wrist. I always noticed it, and it always gave me a _funny_ feeling. "Iggy is Alice's rabbit. He isn't very fond of loud noises," Arthur said. He lifted his right hand to plug his right ear. My eyes followed the ribbon. "Tell you the truth I'm not very fond of them either," he said with a weak smile.

The bugling stopped.

I sighed happily, "Ah finally, peace and quiet." With a yawn I scratched my head. With the quiet I could finally try to get back to sleep, but I decided not too. I would much rather talk to Arthur than sleep.

Arthur hummed in agreement as he leaned against the sill and closed his eyes enjoying the lack of brassy sound. He looked angelic, minus the band-aid that was on his cheek. The sunrise illuminated his blonde hair, and gave his pale skin a mesmerizing glow. His face was so peaceful I wondered if he fell asleep. Then he opened his crystal-like green eyes with a content smile. Yeah, he was so not the boy. He looked in my direction before his content face switched to confused. "Are you alright, Alfred?" He asked.

"Huh, why?" I replied. I really had no idea what he was talking about. It wasn't like I had a goofy smile slapped on my face or something.

"You have a funny look on your face," he said before trying to contain his laughter. I watched as he exploded in a giggle fit and held his stomach as if it was going to burst along with his laughter. His cheeks lit up in the cutest blush I had ever seen on a guy.

I felt all of my blood rushed to my face. "W-what do you mean? Hey stop laughing! Arthur!" I raised my voice in embarrassment. God damn it, I really was smiling like a creeper after all! I tried to cover my face with my hand, it probably was beat red. Looking around my room I found the closest piece of trash, a crumpled up piece of paper (old homework probably), and chucked it out the window with all the force I could muster so it hit Arthur.

When the paper hit him he squealed and fell off the window sill onto his floor. He rose with a playful smirk and picked up the paper from his floor. Un-crumpling it, he began to study the paper with a smug expression on his slightly flushed face. His large eyebrows furrowed as he studied it further. Hopefully there wasn't something perverted written on it, or worse, drawn. He looked up at me with eyes that read sadness and even jealousy. "Who's Natalya?" he asked. Oh yeah, that was jealousy.

"Huh?" I said. I had the feeling I was in some deep shit. You know, the feeling when your boyfriend or girlfriend find out you have been hanging around with another boy or girl. I couldn't figure out why I was feeling like that. Arthur and I weren't seeing each other or anything. Sure I was attracted to him, but that was because he was so different. It wasn't anything romantic. We were just friends. Just friends.

Arthur cleared his throat before reading, "Alfred, you will go out with me sometime. Call me, or else," Arthur read her number in a clear sophisticated voice. He looked up at me. I could tell that he was hiding a scowl behind his current blank face, "Love Natalya."

I swallowed thickly but didn't reply. I quickly regretted throwing the paper at him. I remembered when Natalya gave that to me. It was the week before school let out. I was hanging with some football buddies when all of a sudden Natalya Arlovskaya came marching up to me. She didn't even give me anytime to answer before slamming the paper into my chest and running off. I was never so confused, Natalya Arlovskaya, the girl that would kill you if her brother even looked at you, liked _me_.

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me Alfred, I was just wondering. I didn't know you had a girlfriend," now Arthur looked hurt. He had a forced smile on his face and I could tell by the sound of his voice.

"Whoa hold up, Natalya is not my girlfriend. I never even put her number into my phone." I got up and snatched my phone from my bed and scrolled down to the "N" section. I stuck it out the window as far as my arm would let me. "See?" I didn't know why but I didn't want Arthur to think I was with someone, Natalya of all people.

Arthur squinted to see the screen. "Hm," he hummed in approval and then he started laughing again.

"What now? Is my face really that funny?" I said with a smirk.

"I'm sorry I just couldn't picture you with anyone by the name of 'Natalya'," he said between chuckles. "I think 'Alfred' would go much smoother with another 'A' name."

_Like Arthur?_ I blushed at the thought, and I wondered what his reaction would be. "Like A-"

"Will you keep it dow-Ahh my virgin eyes!" Mattie yelled as he busted my bedroom door open. He slapped his hands over his violet eyes as if they burned. "Put a shirt on man! Or at least pants!" he yelled slamming the door shut. "They burrrnnnn!" I heard him groan dramatically from behind the door. _How innocent can your eyes be when you hang out with our perverted cousin all the time?_

I turned back to Arthur who was crumpling up a piece of blue paper. He threw it over and almost missed but I caught it before it fell two stories to the ground. "I should go check on Alice and Iggy, I'll see you later today probably" he said with a smile. He was blushing, oh good God, it was so adorable.

A goofy smile spread across my face, "Okay see ya."

Arthur got up and closed his window. He waved to me as he left his room.

As soon as his door shut I was opening the piece of paper, desperate to see what he wrote. My first thought was, _damn, that's some pretty good handwriting_. Then, I read the paper.

Alfred,

Here's my number so you can add another name to your "A" list in your phone.

Call or text anytime

-Arthur

I had my phone out so fast it almost slipped out of my hands. I started to punch in the numbers when I realized, _oh my God. He just gave me his number_. I contained an unexpected squeal from bursting out of my throat. _Shit, why am I so happy? I shouldn't be this happy. Okay Alfie calm down. You're a sixteen year old young man, you do __**not**__squeal like a girl. It's just Arthur anyways. He's your friend Alfred, your __**friend**__._ I sat there in silence for a moment. All I could think about was Arthur. I blushed at my realization. "Oh God," I said quietly. I covered my mouth as I whispered, "I think I like Arthur."

O.o.O.o.O

It was around one and I was outside playing solo football. A game I taught myself because Mattie was more into hokey. I tossed it up in the air over and over again. There's only so much you can do with solo football. I quickly became bored and decided to just lie out on the lawn. It was a hot out and the sun was beating down on me so I figured why not.

I sprawled out against the soft grass and let the sunshine soak into me. I could hear the sound of the beach and the busy street just a little while down the road. Rockport was pretty popular when it came to nice beaches, some history, and shops. We got tourists along with local families just looking for a good time.

I sighed, it was too hot! I heard the faint sound of sneakers walking and I cracked an eye open. Arthur. I felt a smile spread on my face and my heart quickened. Then I noticed Alice walking behind him with her rabbit, Iggy, in her arms. I frowned slightly. "Hello Alfred," Arthur said friendly.

"Hey dude, what brings you over to my side of the yard?" I asked gesturing him to sit next to me. "Alice," I said with a nod of my head. She puffed out her cheeks and sat facing away from me. Not the response I was really expecting. Arthur stood over me for a second, but then sat down shortly after. I quickly noticed a dot on his ear. Well it wasn't a _dot_ more like a smear of dried blood. "Your ears are pierced?" I examined them more closely.

Arthur blushed and quickly covered his ear from me. "U-uh well, yes. It was a-apart of my rebellious stage," he said avoiding my eyes as if ashamed.

I laughed and he winced as if the sound stabbed him. I stopped quickly and said, "'Rebellious stage'? I didn't think you could have a rebellious stage. Do you also have a tongue piercing too or something?" I said trying to get him to stop hiding his ears at least.

It worked. He quickly took his hands off his ears and stared at me opened mouth with surprise. Nope, no tongue piercing. "I would never go as far as getting my tongue pierced, you bloody git! I would never get anything other than my ears pierced!" he gawked at my question.

I began to chuckle and said, "How about any tattoos Mr. Rebellious Punk?" I asked it as a joke I didn't expect him to get all quiet and bright red. He tried to cover his face in his knees and muttered something, I couldn't quiet understand so I egged him on, "What was that, Arthur?"

"Mmres"

"You gotta speak up Artie I can't hear ya."

He lifted his head and said, quiet clearly, "Yes!" He was bright red. His eyes had the slightest hint of tears in them. Then I noticed them starting to spill and travel down his flushed cheeks.

"Jesus, Arthur I didn't mean for you to start crying. C'mon dude, don't cry," I said, suddenly worried and mentally scolding myself. I cupped his face in my hands, his cheeks were warm. His eyes widened and he blushed darker. The tears instantly stopped. When I realized what I was doing I felt my face warm. Our faces were really close…

"AHHHH!" Alice screamed.

Both Arthur and I pulled away at the sudden shrill of sound. Alice was holding tightly onto Iggy but Iggy was scratching at her and thrashing around in her arms. Arthur quickly got up and snatched the rouge rabbit from Alice's cut up arms and started for their house. He turned back to me with a blush, "I'll be right back."

Alice just sat there, a dumbfounded look on her young face. I got up and went over to her. Sure she could be a little bitch sometimes but she was still a little kid, and I was the hero so I couldn't just let a little kid sit there like that and look like a kicked puppy. I kneeled in front of her, "You okay?" I asked.

Her glass-like eyes turned to look at me. They were a light jade color, just a shade darker than Arthur's. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Then a bone chilling breeze blew through, which is strange in a Massachusetts sweltering summer. I looked around to see if there was anything to cause the sudden chill in the air but there was nothing. I turned back to Alice; her face was hard and unforgiving. I fell back on my ass in surprise. _That can't be Alice_. Those eyes where dark, menacing and evil. She cracked a wicked smile, "'Ello Alfred, did you miss me?"

I knew for a fact I had a look on my face that was a mix between, "What the fuck" and "what the fucking hell are you?" I didn't move from my position on the ground. My voice remained locked away.

Alice frowned, no, she pouted. "What's wrong Alfred? Reliving your dream or something? Come on, speak don't make me have to _make_ you speak." She scowled when I didn't say a word. _She knows about my dream again_. She took a grab for my face and succeeded. She held my jaw firmly so that I was looking right into those evil orbs. "Fine, if you won't talk," she smiled sickly, "I'll just have to make you scream." I felt as her fingernails start to dig in my flesh. Oh God it hurt!

"What the hell are you?" I said past the pain. She smiled and let go. I quickly scrambled to my feet and rubbed my jaw. Good, no blood.

She stood up too and held her hands behind her back childishly. "Not _your_Alice," was her answer. She gave me a twisted smile before she said, "You noticed Arthur's ears didn't you?"

"Yes…?"

She giggled, "He wanted to keep his ears from closing so I decided to _help_ him. Oh don't give me that look. It wasn't like he didn't ask for it. I just," she thought for the right words, "was a little too _rough_."

"How could you do that?" I snapped at her. She deliberately tried to hurt Arthur and was acting like nothing happened!

She looked up at me darkly. Her voice was calm and cold, full of hatred. "How could you just let that boy run across the street like that?" She giggled darkly before changing the subject completely, "So Alfred is this Natalya character going to get in the way of you and my brother?" She grinned like a maniac about to kill someone.

I was too flabbergasted to react. "What?" I didn't know how to respond. Once again Natalya was brought up.

"Because if she is, I will gladly get ri-"she stopped when she noticed Arthur coming towards us. All of a sudden the chill was gone and the searing heat hit us like a brick wall. When Arthur came up to us Alice eagerly questioned him, "Iggy?" Her eyes full of emotion for the little rabbit.

"He's in your room, Alice," Arthur said with a gentle smile and she ran off like she was on a mission. Which she was. Arthur smiled at me, "Would you like to come in. I could show you my room." He blushed at the mention of his room. I didn't blame him; two teenagers alone in a room could go from nothing to the _extreme_ in seconds, depending on the teenagers.

I couldn't really quiet grasp what was going on. My one-sided conversation with Alice was still going through my head. _She said that she wasn't __**our**__ Alice. What does that mean?_ I questioned myself. _Maybe she really is DID?_

"Alfred?"

I looked up to see Arthur. He was looking at me funny. I chuckled, "Sure, lead the way." What I didn't realize was that he was staring at my chin and the finger nail marks that were in it.

O.o.O.o.O

I sat on Arthur's bed as I watched him shuffle around showing me things that had sentimental values to him. It was me who spotted the family photo of five people, not four. Arthur picked up the photo delicately; a tender smile was on his lips as he studied it. Coming over he sat next to me and handed me the picture. It's wasn't old, but it had to be at least two maybe three years old. In the picture were a younger Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland, a younger Arthur (without his ribbon), a really young Alice, and a boy. I had to do a double take. It was _the boy_, the one I met two years ago. He looked way more livelier in the picture though, with the widest smile on his little face. "W-who's that?" I was barely capable to ask.

Arthur smiled sadly and ran his finger over the boy's face. "That's Iggy. He was the youngest."

"'Iggy'?" I asked. Wasn't Alice's rabbit named 'Iggy'?

Arthur seemed to catch on to my though because he said, "Alice named Iggy after him. She was heart broken, so was I," he started to twirl the green ribbon between his fingers. "He died two years ago."

My heart skipped a few beats. _No way!_

"He ran into the street chasing after that damn rabbit!"

_You're kidding me._

Arthur's eyes began to tear up, "The truck didn't even stop…"

_It's just like…_

I held onto him, no, I clung to him. If he had told me to stop hugging him I wouldn't have obeyed. I felt his hands clutch the back of my shirt, and his tears wetting the front. We had both witnessed the same scene. Both were a nightmare and both were real, but only one was one hundred times as worst as the second. And that was the one seen through Arthur's eyes, the eyes that saw his brother's end.

I tried to get up but Arthur pulled me closer, and then I heard him whispering something. I strained to hear his weak voice. He was singing…

Please don't go

I want you to stay

I'm begging you please

Oh please don't leave here

I don't want you to hate

For all the hurt that you feel

This world is just illusion

Always trying to change you…

This world _is_ only an illusion, but what is yours to say is real and what is fake? Or what is plainly magic?

* * *

*DID*- Dissociative Identity Disorder  
The song is "Illusions" by VNV Nations

Please Read:  
_A/N_: Oh my gosh! I found out how to do the line thingy! MIND BLOWN! Okay the reason I want you guys to read this is because there's some important things regarding the story I want you guys to know.

1) Alice doesn't actually have DID  
2) There will be a character death later on, like next chapter later on  
3) This story is really complicated so if anything confuses you write up a review or PM me  
4) The next chapter might take a while

Okay I think that's about it :). I also want to apologize for the long wait on the chapter. I've been really busy and like I said, this story is second on my list to finish. I hope you liked it. Review pwease :) Peace and Love!


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